Consensus
by Lyralocke
Summary: Kataang, collection of oneshots. The progression of Katara and Aang's relationship as perceived through the five human senses.
1. Sight

_Whoa, two stories in progress at once? Shocker, I know!_

_This one is much more recent than the other in progress story. It isn't really a story so much as a collection of one-shots. Each one is based off one of the five senses. I know this has been done before, but ah well. I had ideas, so I wrote them down. And here they are! I had to pass the time somehow between season 2 and the seemingly nonexistent season 3. D'oh._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. I do own Pee Wee's Christmas Special on DVD._

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1 of 5: Sight: the power or faculty of seeing; perception of objects by use of the eyes; vision.

Aang watched her. Since the day he was released from the iceberg, he watched her. When he was bored or tired or worried, he watched her. When he was content or comfortable, he watched her. Whenever his eyes had time to wander, they would wander to her.

He thought she didn't know.

She knew.

Katara wasn't oblivious. Since the day she released him from the iceberg, she had seen him watching her. At first, she waved it off. He was just a goofy kid. She barely knew him. Then, it began to worry her. He was the Avatar. She shouldn't be distracting him from his duty. Finally, she came to expect it. She would feel incomplete when he wasn't watching her.

So she started watching him.

He knew.

She knew he knew.

And as the time went by, she started to see him differently.

Aang was hardly a goofy kid. Yes, he was young, but so was she. And he was wise and mature beyond his years. He had to be, considering the responsibility he held. A responsibility he had devoted his life to, and he would not let something silly like a crush distract him from his duty. He had grown. Inside, outside.

When she watched him, she saw Aang, that wonderful young man with the bewitching smile and the endearing eyes with an inner child that wasn't all the way in yet.

She saw the Avatar, a powerful bender of all four elements, a peacemaker, a deity, a sage, a diplomat, a warrior, a scholar, a spirit.

And upon realizing that she had been watching him for the past half hour while he watched her right back, she saw with a jolt that she was in love with Aang. The Avatar.

Aang looked away quickly when he realized she had noticed. Katara smiled.

"You've been watching me," she said quietly.

Aang glanced back at her. His eyes flicked over the campfire to Toph and Sokka, who were both sleeping. He blushed as he turned back toward her.

"Yeah, well… I could say the same about you," he replied uncomfortably.

Katara smiled a little more. "Yes, you could."

Silence fell between them. Aang was extremely nervous. Katara, on the other hand, seemed very relaxed.

"I don't mind," she added.

"Huh?"

"I don't mind that you watch me," she finally blushed slightly, focusing on the fire. "I mean… I kind of like it."

Katara watched as his eyes went wide and his face burned crimson. Aang watched as she smiled.

"Yeah," Aang muttered shortly, a smile finally spreading over his blushing features. "I kind of like it too."

Katara got to her feet and moved around the fire, sitting down beside him. He blushingly took her hand in his, and she smiled.

From across the fire, Sokka watched the scene unfold with a resigned sigh.


	2. Hearing

_Thanks for the reviews. Here's the next installment! I like this one. It's simple, but it works._

_Disclaimer: I still do not own Avatar._

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2 of 5: Hearing: to listen; to give or pay attention; to perceive by the ear.

Breathing had always been such a simple thing to Aang. As an airbender, he appreciated breathing more than some, but it was still taken for granted. Breathing was just another function of the body, and in the case of benders, a function of the spirit.

However, upon meeting Katara, breathing became very different to Aang. It took on an entirely new dimension and sentiment.

Aang loved listening to Katara breathe.

While she was sleeping, he would lie awake and listen to her calm breaths. It was still a simple thing, but it became a part of his life. His whole world was chaos, but every night, there was this one bit of stability. Katara's breathing was something he could always count on.

It was steady, it was calm, it was even, it was slow. Nothing rushed or unpredictable about it. It was meditative, rhythmic, nearly hypnotic. And as an added bonus, it reminded him that Katara, this wonderful blessing of a girl, was alive and well.

There were a number of sounds he loved in the world. When he was a child, Monk Gyatso's voice was among them. Appa's snoring was another. But most of the sounds he loved had something to do with Katara. Her laugh made him smile. Her sigh sent shivers down his spine. Her voice made him feel safe. He had never heard her sing, but she hummed a great deal, and the sound made him feel at peace.

But her breathing, the simplest noise she could make, was music to his ears.

Aang sighed. He could be fighting the rest of his life, but as long as he could fall asleep to the sound of Katara's breathing, he would be happy. Unfortunately, Katara would leave him someday. He knew better than to expect her to come with him after the war. He knew she would want to have a life with someone. It hurt, and it often kept him up at night, but it was the truth. And it was for the best.

But for now, he could still enjoy this. He could still close his eyes and pretend he would be here his whole life, lying beside her in the quiet woods, listening to her breathing.

Aang's breathing slowed. He drifted out of the waking world with a small smile on his face. Katara opened her eyes and glanced over at him. She smiled a little as she listened. Slow, steady breaths. One after another.

Katara was always glad to help Aang fall asleep. And she would be even if she had to do anything more than breathe.


	3. Taste

_This one is more comical than I had originally planned. But I like how it turned out regardless._

_Disclaimer: I remain in the state of not owning Avatar  
_

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3 of 5: Taste: the sensation or quality as perceived by the tongue; flavor. 

The Water Tribe was not known for its food. The diet of the Southern Water Tribe was simple and hearty. If it's healthy, warm, and easy to prepare, it's good. So when Katara and her brother ventured from the South Pole and into the Earth Kingdom for the first time, they did so with very inexperienced palates.

Aang, on the other hand, had been traveling around the world his whole life. He had tasted a bit of everything, but he was still attached to the food found around the air temples. It mostly consisted of sweet fruits and spicy vegetation, something Katara found rather overwhelming.

Two years after the war, Katara returned to the Southern Air Temple with Aang to see it in the fall, when he said it was at its most beautiful. It was big, empty, and quiet, but as he had said, it was indeed beautiful. Katara fell in love with the place. But the only food was that which was still growing in the ancient gardens. To the surprise of the Avatar and the waterbender, the gardens had remained fertile through the century of wilderness. Fruit trees and leafy greens still grew in the rocky soil of the mountains. These were clearly hardy plants.

Unfortunately for Katara, they were also very potent.

The fruit was like syrup, the greens like bitter roots, and Aang loved it. He raved about the delicious meals he used to eat with the Air Nomads. All you needed to add was rice, which grew on the lower slopes of the mountains. Katara was less than impressed. In fact, she was being rather stubborn about the whole thing.

"Aang, come on, there must be something to eat here that isn't so…"

"Delicious? Come on Katara, don't be such a baby."

Katara frowned at him, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. Aang just rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't you think it's kind of exciting? Trying new things?" he asked hopefully, holding up a brightly colored fruit and smiling at her.

Katara fixed him with a cool stare that made him nervous. She folded her arms across her chest, sizing him up for several moments.

"You know what, Aang? There is something I've wanted to try for a while," she admitted with a devilish smile that nearly made his heart stop. Of course, that was nothing compared to his reaction when she grabbed his shirt and hauled him toward her, sealing her lips over his in one swift movement. Regardless of Aang's muscles seizing up immediately, Katara took her time, sliding her tongue into the far corners of his mouth to get as good a taste of him as she could.

When she pulled away from him, a triumphant smile on her face, he was frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth hanging open a little. The fruit had long since dropped from his hand and rolled across the ground.

"Hmm… not bad," Katara murmured, smirking. "You taste a lot better than your food."


	4. Smell

_I have to give you fair warning here: this one is probably the worst of the lot. But I have a good reason. I don't have a sense of smell. It's called "anosmia," look it up if you don't believe me. But anyway, I have no perception of smell at all, so this is very vague and kinda BS. So uh... sorry about that. The next one is really good though, so uh... something to look forward to?_

_Disclaimer: Avatar, I own not_

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4 of 5: Smell: to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; faculty of smelling; scent.

The smell of moonlilies reminded Katara of her mother. Moonlilies were rare arctic flowers that only bloomed at night in the presence of silver moonlight. They sprung up from the permafrost of the tundra, crawled up through snow and ice, and survived for years in the frigid temperatures of the South Pole.

Katara's mother loved moonlilies. She would hang them over Katara's crib when she was a baby, and the smell remained with her through her whole life.

The scent of her father was more akin to smoked seal jerky. It was his favorite food, and the smell of it always preceded him. It was a scent she associated with her brother as well, since he was so similar to their father.

Between the seal jerky and the moonlilies, Katara could easily say she missed the moonlilies more.

Upon beginning her journey across the world, Katara learned to identify two more scents. There was the smell of earth that always accompanied Toph, and then there was Aang. His was a scent she had never experienced. If the wind had a smell of its own, that was how Aang smelled. He smelled clean and fresh, even after a long day of grueling work. She had grown to admire this quality in him, considering her brother took on an unearthly stench after working hard.

So when two of her favorite smells came together, she was pleasantly surprised.

It had been three years since the end of the war, and Katara and Aang had gone back to the South Pole. Katara had been alone in her room, late in the evening, when the unusual scent first reached her. Aang's scent reached her first, like a breath of fresh air. Shortly after came the unmistakable smell of the moonlilies, something she hadn't experienced in years.

"Katara?"

She turned around. In her doorway stood Aang, with a handful of moonlilies, the moonlight streaming in behind him. He had a nervous smile on his face.

"I uh… saw these out on the tundra, and I picked some because I like how they smell. It reminds me of you. I thought you might like them," he said, sounding a little embarrassed.

Katara didn't hesitate. She threw her arms around his neck in a fierce hug, burying her face in his shirt and taking a deep breath. She could feel him doing the same thing, and it made her smile.

"So you like them?" he muttered into her hair.

"I love them," she whispered, straightening up and placing a light kiss on his lips. "You don't smell so bad yourself."

Aang grinned. "It's an airbender thing," he said easily with a shrug.

"Well then I'm glad I got myself the last airbender."


	5. Touch

_This one is my favorite I think. I like hearing and taste, but this one just seemed better to me for some reason. And I actually have this sense, so it beats Smell._

_Thanks for all the reviews, it's been fun._

_Disclaimer: I own Avatar. Psych!  
_

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5 of 5: Touch: to put the hand, finger, etc., on or into contact with (something) to feel it; to come into contact with and perceive (something), as the hand or the like does; feel.

Between airbenders and waterbenders, there always seemed to be a difference in skin temperature. Katara's skin was always warm, Aang's was always cool. Whenever the two of them touched, it was like fire and ice. And everyone knows that fire and ice makes steam.

The war had been over for three years, and Katara and Aang had spent the third year as a pair. They were constantly in each other's company, always making some kind of contact. Whether his hand was on her back or she was touching his shoulder, it didn't matter. They just loved the feel of the other's touch. It was obvious to anyone who knew them. It was obvious to anyone who didn't know them.

To Aang, Katara was like a furnace. She was always so wonderfully warm to his cool skin, he was surprised he ever let go. Katara agreed with him completely. She always thought he was far too cold, and thus it was her job to keep him warm. She was surprised she ever let go.

And they very rarely did let go.

The two of them invested a lot of time in the sense of touch. Katara, for example, enjoyed the feel of skin. Be it arms, back, hands, lips, shoulders, whatever, she loved the touch of Aang's skin. Aang, on the other hand, simply loved Katara's hands. He didn't care where they were, he just wanted her hands to be somewhere near him at all times.

This constant touching drove Sokka insane. But he was at least secure in the knowledge that they slept separately. Unfortunately, this knowledge was false. In fact, it had been nearly a year since either had been alone in their beds through the whole night.

They had a system.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph were sitting together in the back of the great hall of the Southern Water Tribe's city. There had been a feast for one thing or another, and most of the attendees had trickled out to their homes. It was late, and the air was chilling rapidly.

Toph got to her feet, yawning and stretching. "I'm off to bed," she said simply.

Katara gained her feet as well. "I'll come too. It's pretty late. Goodnight, Aang," she said with a smile, placing a light kiss on his lips that made him smile.

"G'night Katara," he replied contentedly.

She smiled warmly at him and turned to her brother. "'Night, Sokka," she said simply, striding from the room with Toph.

After a short while, Aang yawned. "I think I'll turn in too," he said.

"Okay, but I'm coming with you," Sokka said, getting to his feet. The boys left the great hall and made the short walk back to the house the four of them shared.

Aang went into his room, and Sokka went into his own. Five minutes, maybe ten, and Sokka's snoring rang out through the house. Aang crept silently from his room, down the dark hall, past Toph's room, and through Katara's doorway.

Sometimes she'd be awake, smiling at him. Sometimes she'd be sleeping peacefully. It didn't really make a difference.

Tonight she was asleep. Aang slipped beneath the blankets behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back tightly against his chest. She sighed, in his arms again. Touching him again. Right where she wanted to be.

"Hey, Aang," she murmured tiredly. "Took you a while…"

"Sorry," Aang whispered, raising a hand and trailing his fingertips down her bare arm. She smiled, placing her hands on his other hand, which was still on her stomach. He smiled. She knew how much he loved her hands. She subconsciously began tracing the arrow tattoo on his hand with her fingertips. As always, her hands were hot on his, warming his skin instantly.

"S'alright," she sighed. "Just glad you're here."

"I'm always here," he replied with a yawn, leaning his head forward and burying his face in the back of her shoulder.

Katara laughed a little, his lips tickling her skin. "I know," she murmured. "But I'm still glad."


End file.
